Puck In Deep – Team Preview: New York Rangers

Puck In Deep – Team Preview: New York Rangers

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Puck in Deep with your host Pearllo Wisdom. How you doing, Pearlo? I can’t wait till that day that that first game. It’s going to be awesome. Uh lots of not much news going on right now, but lots of pre lots of uh previews to uh to watch or to uh get dive into. That Philadelphia one we just did is excellent. You guys are going to watch that. Yeah, man. You got to check that out for sure. Yeah, exactly. And now we’re going to go on to the New York Rangers. And uh um well, but this uh the with the Rangers, ah man, I just I I don’t have a good feeling. I I picked them to miss the playoffs when they won the President’s Trophy. And I Yeah. And then I went I went back to it last year, though. And I’m sorry. I gotta keep on going back to it here. I I I know they got a new coach and all of that, but I don’t really see a different team. There was some weird situations that went on with Trouba last year, and it seemed to hit the team pretty hard. Um, just not having much faith in management with the way they did things, the way they treated people, and all of those sort of things like that. And now you bring in a new coach, and I love Sullivan. I think Sullivan did a heck of a job in Pittsburgh, but I think he’s got a big I think he’s got something big on his hands here to change all this around. I’m gonna have to see it, I think, is the best way to say it. If Sullivan can change the uh energy of this team and get them pointed in the right direction, I’ll say good for you, buddy. Good for you. I I agree. I agree 100%. because that’s what I think is going to be the biggest key. And and I I’m hoping that everybody can hear us and and all that other happiness because uh Let me check here. Let me just make sure we’re we’re good. Actually, Steve, can you do it? Can you um go on to the YouTube channel and see if you can hear us? Yeah. I hope everybody can hear us. Actually, Steve, can you do it? Can you um go on to the YouTube channel and see if you can hear us? I think we’re good. Yeah, we’re good. Yeah, we’re good. Cool. Cool. All right. So, yeah. Uh, we were talking about the New York Rangers here on Puck and Deep with the Great Pearl of Wisdom. And let me say this. Um, I think that the New York Rangers are in a they’re not in a good way as far as I’m concerned. Okay, look, they they had a coach there in Lavlet and they had quite the roster of players. They’ve they’ve done some turnover considerably. Um, not only that, but they changed the guys behind the bench. They went from Peter Lava to Mike Sullivan. You alluded to it earlier. I think that’s going to affect this team massively because I don’t know if he’s going to be able to get those guys to where they need to be. Like, they’re not his guys. Do you know what I’m saying? So, I mean, I I don’t know. I really think that it’s going to take them a little bit before they’re relevant again. Does that I mean, you know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, if you’re Sullivan, when you think about it, the first thing I think you’re looking at is kind of like erasing last year completely. And maybe that’s kind of part of the reason why the coaching change where he can go in and say it’s all fresh. I’m a new coach. Uh you know, everything whatever’s everything is water under the bridge. Uh and uh we just have to decide here what our goal is and what do we want to do for this year. Um, you know, I’m I’m willing to to to work with you guys to get the best out of each other to become a kind a team that can can win. And he’s of course going to say we have um if you we have all the we have all the pieces here. You know, Paneran is great. Um you have there’s a lot of talent on this team. I if we can focus on making the playoffs, I think we can do a lot of great things. And like I said, I don’t think it’s going to be too system orientated to begin with here, he’s going to try to get these guys feeling good about themselves. Um, and and just enjoying the game. I think to start off with, he’s going to be working on a lot of fun stuff. Try to make it fun. Remember why you played, all of those sort of things like that. Um, that’s a good point. So, early I could see like a lot of offensive games with the Rangers. I a lot of not like like I’ve mentioned a couple times with new coaches, they’re going to he’s going to let them go and try to try to build trust with them. I think for the most part um because that uh that’s the word here I think we’re we’re talking about is there’s a lot of mistrust in this in this ro Yeah yeah yeah yeah I dude that’s that’s perfect I think that’s the word we’re looking at here and I think he’s going to try to build trust and then he’s going to start showing he’s really he’s in an interesting situation where he almost starts to show them that I’m here for you and I I care about you and all of those sort of things like that. Um, forget about man, like he’s not going to say forget about management, but he almost has to get them to forget about management and play for each other and all of those and and just have a direct what are we trying to do here? What does it matter most? Why are we playing? Why are we what are we what are we doing today to win this game? I mean, just, you know, get their focus on just that and forget about the rest of it. And I don’t know. I Sullivan’s great. I think I I think he can do that. I think he can get these guys doing that. But then there’s another obstacle here. I’m not sure how great this roster is to begin with. Really, it is the drop off, man. when you get when you lose right you lose the the the Chris Krers and the Keandre Millers right and and and have the turnover that they did and they’re I just looked to see what they were doing for their preseason right and they’re one and one in their preseason so far right now I know you don’t take any stock in the preseason but No I don’t No, but let me just say this. I think that yes, the coach is going to have an impact on this team because it’s the anti- Lavlet. It’s the exact opposite of the way Lavlet was. You know what I mean? I I almost have to believe that. I almost have to believe that because look, we’ve seen Lulet have success. We’ve seen him win a Stanley Cup, albeit, you know, 10 years ago. We’ve still seen him do it, right? That’s kind of where I’m at here. We’ve seen Mike Sullivan win a Stanley Cup, too. But if you can’t win a Stanley Cup with Sydney Crosby and Malin and and the likes of those guys on your team, you might not necessarily be the best coach. You know what I mean? So they they have some talent. You’ve got the Zabanagads. You got the the Panerens. You look at the goalender he gets to have. I mean, you automatically have a chance with Sturken back there. You look you just if he’s starting in net you okay that’s almost a that’s almost a check mark on the plus side for the Rangers almost across the board until you start getting against the you know the Babroskies and the you know the the Hella Bucks and stuff like that but you got to put him up there now I think he had a down year last year because the whole team did he also missed time due to injuries Y as well. Oh yeah, I’m definitely not putting this on, right? Um I got a theory though because you got to remember how many coaches they’ve gone through here. I mean, how many coaches do you need to start to to start being in the last what, seven years? In the last seven years now. And I’ve had a theory about the Rangers here. And I talked about it on a video I did, but I’ll talk it about a little bit here and then I’ll get into the roster. Why do people want to go to New York? like when before this whole tax situation came and Tampa and them all them are good and now everybody wants to go to those teams and still people want to go a lot of players want to go to New York. New York doesn’t usually have a the Rangers usually don’t have a difficulty uh drawing people there. And the main reason I believe because they have high taxes, you know, there’s a lot of things that they have. But one thing that the New York has is for millionaires is you can do whatever you want. Like there is everything for you in New York. If you’ve got money, whatever you enjoy doing, you can do in New York. It’s exciting place to be. Right. Um, and you have like art our Timmy Paneran when he went there, he made it quite clear he wanted to go to New York or LA because his wife was a model and that would be best place to be a model. I get that. Totally with you. By the way, tough life. All right. Okay. Milliondoll player. [Music] My model wife wants to play in LA or New York. I’d love to have those problems. And guess what? He’s playing in New York. Go figure. Right. But here’s the thing. Your model wife now is is in New York. Do you What do What do models do? They hang out with fashion gurus and celebrities and do all that kind of stuff. Do you think Panaran just sits home and plays Xbox while that’s happening? Probably not. He’s probably on that trip, too. He’s with her. Guess who’s not with him when they’re doing that? His teammates. Um, and and a lot of these players that are in New York, I think, can get caught up in the fact that they’re you’re living separate lives until you come and play in the rink. Like you look at teams like Winnipeg. Why are they so successful? Although not in the playoffs, there’s nothing to do in Winnipeg. If you’re in Winnipeg, you’re probably hanging out with each other. You’re Because there’s nothing to do up there. Okay. Exactly. So, you got a family atmosphere in those kind of places. And um could uh Matthew Kachchuck said last year that whenever they went anywhere, and you can do that at this in Florida, too. Go off your own separate ways, but wherever they went anywhere, they went together. Everybody went together. It was like this big happy family, and they they did things together, I think, in New York. And what Sullivan might have to do here or is going to probably have to work on I this is just a lean is that he’s going to have to come in and say, “Okay, guys, that’s it. We’re having he’s going to have to start making team events, uh, team team building events where everybody has to go and get this team as a unit because if you watch them on the ice even, they don’t seem like they’re connecting, especially five on five. Um, they do really well at high percentage shooting. That was the reason why they won the President’s Trophy LA that year. Terrible five on five team, but they they were a high percentage shooting team. You know what that means? They’re happy. When you’re feeling it and you’re feeling good and you’re enjoying life and everything, all those shots they hit the post before, now you pick the corners. So, he’s going to have to balance this out. And I think this team just needs to become more of a team first and foremost before they do anything. What I see on this team, do you think that could happen this year though? Can he do it in one year? I I’m banking not. I I don’t have I have the Rangers barely making the playoffs, if they make the playoffs at all. Um, okay. just on roster alone from what I’ve seen so far, you know, Alexis Ra Lafernier, he seems to be that this is what he’s going to be and it’s not good enough. He doesn’t play defense well. He doesn’t he doesn’t uh he he puts he’s not a complete player. He’s not a complete player. He’s not a complete player at all. Vinnie Tro looks great for a second liner. I like him. Paneran can be great when he’s feeling it. When he’s And the same thing with Zabanagot, too. Zabonajot is a really good example. Here’s a guy that um three years ago he was playing good three zone D, but if if there’s um a disconnect, he’s not the guy that’s going to connect it. He actually goes kind of whatever the team does, he goes down with the team or up with the team, but he does. And talk about Zabonad. Zabanagod is a DJ on the side. I don’t know if you know this. And he’s a very he’s a very important one. So when he’s out DJing doing that, do you think he’s hanging out with his teammates? No, I don’t think so. I’m noticing a theme here, PLO. But I think that’s kind of one of the reasons why they brought in a JT Miller because Miller is a big teammate guy, although he didn’t do so well with Person or whatever. Well, you know, they they just named him as the 29th captain captain. And that tells me brought a guy in and named him captain, right? And that tells me a lot because I think what’s happening here is Sullivan’s going to come in. JT Miller is a guy that will do he’s not he’s very coachable. Oh yeah. Um and he doesn’t take uh not doing pulling the law to line well like he like I think that’s what happened with Person. Patterson kind of went off the rails. He holds as well. Didn’t act right, but he won’t, but he he’s going to give accountability is the word I’m looking for. So, they’re going to really lean on that and I think that’s the direction they’re going to go here. I don’t know how much they’re going to accept this, but it has got to be. This team just does does not work as a unit at all that I’ve seen. We can go down the lineup. I don’t think their defense is very good. William Borggan’s playing way too high. Susi’s playing way too high. They went and got Gabberov. Gabberov Gabov is not Yeah. Yeah. They’re gonna be great. You don’t need to worry about them. But the rest of the ish, you know, but I also think you have to put your information about Adam Fox as well too because, you know, he’s so underrated as far as I’m concerned. I mean, maybe not. You know, he he did win a trophy, you know, a couple years ago, but I think he helps I think he’s going to be one of those guys that Sullivan’s going to lean on to be part of the leadership group. Do you know what I mean? Right. And I think that’s welld deserved of of Fox. Okay. I I think I think I think he has an opportunity to thrive in in in a Sullivan system. Yeah. Okay. So, now they just need to get some help, you know, because they need to get they need to get people back in the coach and say, “Look, guys, if we’re going to succeed, this is the way it’s got to be.” They need to get they need to get See, here’s what Pirllo is talking about. You know, he’s talking about getting the guys to buy in. Huge. As a coach, the first thing you have to have guys do is buy into what you’re shoveling. Okay. Seriously. And and and the good thing about Sullivan is he comes from a team that has Sydney Crosby. If you’ve heard anybody talk about Cydney Crosby, nobody includes the team more. and and takes care of his players more than Cydney Crosby. He I’ve heard some amazing stories about what he does for his teammates and all that kind of stuff like that. So, he can kind of fall on that and say, “Look, in Pittsburgh, the reason why we had success was because we became a team.” And what I’m seeing here, no offense to any of you guys, is I’m not seeing enough of it. And if you want to succeed, you’re going to have to trust me here. Yeah. So, whatever you do on the side in your life and stuff like that, I’ll try to make sure that you can still have your individual lives, but we got to spend some time together at home, on the road. We have to become a unit and play for each other and do things, not as individuals on the ice and off the ice. And I believe that’s the message he’s going to come here. And how much are they going to accept it? I guess we’ll find out. I mean, they haven’t they apparently they’ve been talking with Paneran about a next contract and they’re talking about taking a asking him to take a big uh team friendly deal. So, we see we’ll see what happens with that. But and I think also this this could have a lot to do with why Alexis Lafernier has kind of struggled in his and actually young players in general have had a difficult time in New York and a lot of that could be because they don’t really feel part of something. You know, you all get off the plane off of a road trip and everybody goes their own way. Yeah. And these kids are like, “Okay, well, I guess I do that, too.” especially coming from where they’ve come from, you know, where these guys are. I mean, the these junior league guys and these college guys and and the junior leagues and all that, man, they spend days, weeks, months with each other. You know what I mean? Like, uh Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. They’re used to this team unit. That’s what I mean. And then they get up and trying to lean on these veterans, but they have their own lives. like it feels weird and I think it’s just I and this is just a theory I could be way off if anybody knows. That’s funny that you say that, Perllo, because I’ve heard a lot of other teams, not the New York Rangers, but I’ve heard of other teams where the veteran guys take the younger guys in. They will even live with them for a period of time. I mean, and help them get established. They’ll help him get a place to rent, whatever. Blah blah blah blah. I mean, all you have to do is look at like what Mario Lemieux did with Sydney Crosby. Yeah. That’s all he took him in. He took him in, right? And you you hear of other teams that do that. I you know, Philadelphia is a team that’s done that. A lot of their players throughout the years when they get new guys in, they’ll do that. You know, I hear a lot about that from like Nashville. I hear a lot about that from Carolina. You know what I mean? From Colorado, other, you know, really, you know, Stephen Stanco in Tampa Bay used to do all of that. He was much like Crosby that way. He cares about his players a lot. Exactly. Exactly. Especially in Detroit where they did that a lot in Detroit, too. Right. You know what I mean? Okay. So, and I have never heard this happening in New York. Right. That’s See, that’s what I’m getting at. That’s what I’m getting at here, right? That’s what I’m getting at. Never heard this happening in New York. You never even Lungquist. You never heard Lungquist be like taking the guys under his wing and, you know, helping him out. I mean, not I’m not saying that he’s not, but I’ve just never We never heard it, right? We never heard they play like a team that and if you look at it logically, like I said, Zavana Jud’s a DJ. Paneran’s got the model wife. You’re in New York. you’re going to these clubs and you’re doing all the things that you like to do. But, and I don’t blame them because that’s if I had millions, I’d want to do that, too. I mean, that’s their prerogative. That’s their We need a coach to go in there and say, “Hey, now we got to we got to work together here. Make sure we can do stuff all that. Make a deal with And if anybody’s going to do that, it’s going to be Sullivan. How Pittsburgh just he’s gonna have to go into the room and be like, “All right, guys. I’ll tell you what. Make a deal with you. We’ll pay you millions of dollars a year, but we have to be sweating and clawing and fighting and scratching for at least eight months out of the year. Okay. The other four months, y’all can do whatever y’all want to do, right? Yeah. But for eight months, we need y’all here. Yeah. Okay. And that and and I think that’s the kind of commitment that you’re talking about that Sullivan’s going to try to ask these guys to do now. Can the Trots, can the Zabanage ads, can the Panerans, can they do that? Are they going to be willing to do it? That’s the right. What are we talking about? Four coaches the Panerans had since the beginning and that we really I know that they were they made it. I know people say, “Well, they made it to the conference finals and stuff like that.” But honestly, there’s a reason why I took him to miss the playoffs because they were doing it on very high shooting percentage and amazing goalending. And that’s just not going and that was the year. Yeah. He won the he he won the trophy that year, right? The VZNA. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so like I said, the fact that you even have that goalender, could you imagine if Sullivan had anything remotely close to a Shurken as a goalender? Even when he won the cup, he probably could have won a couple more cups if he had some goalending. Yeah. You know, so he’s got some goalending going on now. You know what I mean? And yeah, I agree with you about Lafrenir. I because look, I think the the man is talented, but I think he has been either underused or not used in the correct way and or not used to his strength. And the fact that he’s still relatively young means that I’m hoping that he can be coached into a 200 foot player. I mean, many other players have been able to do that. The Ovetkins, the Crosby’s, the all those other players have been, hey, like, hey, look, if you don’t play a 200 foot game, you’re not going to win a cup, right? And then boom. Hey, look what happened. Ovetkin started playing a 200 foot game and boom, hey, he hoisted a cup. You know, I think a lot of it has to do with like especially with uh Lavlet, he had a very complex defensive system and that’s just, you know, and and if you’re not playing as a team, systems are tough to play. It’s a lot of feel, a lot of chemistry. Everything has to kind of work. you need to know who’s going to be there that you’re going to be there at that time when I pass the puck up there and all that kind of stuff like that. And if these players are disconnected, it’s doesn’t matter what system you put in place, it’s not going to matter. Uh Yeah.

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